C300 2008 with 217,000 miles. Went to start car and it would not turn over. Power everywhere but the engine. Towed to dealership for diagnosis. Steering locked and had to be replaced. Same complaint as hundreds of others on this site and many more read online at various sites. Should be a recall from Mercedes. Over $1,500 in repair costs. Also problems with front lights same as rear lights that are on recall. Mercedes would not repair the front lights and wanted to charge over $700 to fix one light. With 217K miles and barely any other repairs I suppose I should be happy but this seems to be a recurring complaint from so many it is obviously an issue.

- Arlington, TX, USA

Car year: 2008 model: C300 4matic sport mileage at time of failure: 30,893 warranty: Expire on due to age of car, not mileage estimate cause: Manufacturing defect part effected: Eis (electronic ignition switch), esl (electronic steering lock), ECU estimated effected vins based on extensive online research and customer complaints: Thousands estimate cost of individual repairs per incident due to defect: $1,200. To $1,990. Estimate profit for dealerships: $100mm+ research keywords: Mercedes Benz, eis, esl, C300 source of 99% of complaints: www.mbworld.com & independently owned and operated mb dealership. "service campaign bulletin" campaign no. 2008020003, March 2008 recall: Not issued this is regards to a consistent and repeated know manufacturer defect in several years Mercedes Benz models, that the company, Mercedes Benz (mb) is aware of and has issued a "service campaign bulletin" campaign no. 2008020003, March 2008. Unfortunately mb claims that this issue only affects "approximately 10 vehicles". a 08 Mercedes C300 that I bought on 6/12/2013 with 9,025 miles when I bought it and now has about 30,896 miles today 11/20/2014. On 11/19/2014 my car stopped working. \ after researching online I noticed hundreds upon thousands of people are having the same issue with the 08 C300 knowing as the eis, esl, or the ignition failure and repairs up to $2000 in some cases. I will need to have my car towed to a mb dealership to have this fix. Thank you for your assistance, your time and consideration.

- Southampton, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start and the steering seized. The contact stated that the failure recurred multiples. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The technician stated that the steering wheel lock needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,005.

- San Jose, CA, USA

Parked in the garage at night in the morning it would not start, steering locked, transmission locked and the worse the tires were half turned, after 3 hours we were able to get it out and tow it to mbz dealer, after 2 days diagnosed as ignition failure and steering locked, it took 5 days to get repaired at a $1000, from day one this car only serviced by mbz dealer and I see so many same complaints by owners and cannot believe mbz wont do anything about this issue, now I'm kind of scarred if it happened again while I'm driving.

- Sherman Oaks, CA, USA

I drove to the store and when I got in my car to leave the ignition would not start when I put the key in and tried to turn it on. The steering wheel was locked and I could not change the gears of the car to neutral or any other gear. I had my car towed to the nearest Mercedes Benz dealership and they performed a full inspection and found that the steering is locked.

- Moreno Valley, CA, USA

Electronic steering lock malfunctioned. I'm now out $1100 because of a problem so common, a guy who hadn't even seen my car was able to guess the make, model, and year of my car just by telling him the issue. How has a recall not been made on this problem? car worked fine just two hours before it wouldn't start... unbelievable.

- Union City, CA, USA

This vehicle has had a trend among many people with their steering randomly defaulting. To get it fixed they quoted me 1300 dollars. Many people seem to have this problem right after their warranty expires. The person who contacted me said "there was a faulty steering problem". please correct me if I am wrong, but to me faulty means working badly or unreliably because of imperfections. I feel that this is a ridiculous thing to pay for especially knowing that this car is only 6 years old and I bought the car 6 months ago.I have never experienced something so vile and crooked from a company like this in my life. The car seemed to be working perfectly fine minutes before it decided to give out, 3 minutes to be exact. If I were to have been driving and the steering wheel where to have locked up on me on an interstate like that it could have been fatal. Someone needs to do something about this because it is getting out of control for a company to be able to scam customers like this.

- Del Rio, TX, USA

I parked & locked my car walked away from it for 10 mins, when I cam back I was able to unlock the car the side mirror folded out. When I placed the key in the ignition the key turned but the engine did not start nor could I take the gear out of park. The dash had a message stating remove key from ignition. Thinking that the battery was dead I had the battery replace. I took it to a mechanic and was told that the problem was with the ignition switch & steering lock assembly.

- Hayward, CA, USA

Mercedes electronic steering lock (esl) failed. Car would not start due to the key not being recognized. I was able to close and open the doors, lights came on, but would not start. Battery was tested was is fine. Starter was fine. All fuses were fine. Towed to Mercedes and the esl is being changed at the cost of $1200. The automobile is still at the dealership one week later. Heard a lot of similar complaints online about this particular failure with the same models. I have spoken to Mercedes Benz of America in montvale NJ, but they insist since the auto is past the warranty period they cannot help me financially with the repairs, there should be a recall as Mercedes is aware of this and is not owning up to their mistake. There are many similar experiences and complaints from other owners with the C300 2008, 2009, and 2010 models. I knew what the mechanical/electrical issue was from reading the varied stories online and experiences from other owners, before it was diagnosed and looked at from the Mercedes dealership.

- Stamford , CT, USA

Mercedes electronic steering lock (esl) failed. Car would not start due to the key not being recognized. Everything else in the car works electronically, radio, windows, lights, etc. Battery was tested was is fine. Starter was fine. All fuses were fine. Towed to Mercedes and had esl changed for more than a thousand dollars. Heard a lot of similar complaints online about this particular failure with same models. This should be a recall as Mercedes is aware of this and is not owning up to their mistake.

- Wichita, KS, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz C300. The contact stated the vehicle failed to start and no warning sensors illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the electronic steering lock failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 101,000.

- Stamford, CT, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes C300. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The technician stated that the steering wheel lock needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not available.the approximate failure mileage was 51,918.

- Inglewood, CA, USA

Parked by car as usual, came out an hour later and my car wouldn't start. The key fob locks and unlocks the door and the lights still come on but when I put the key in the ignition and turn the key the car won't start. The road side service technician stated the key fob is not being recognized and that is the reason the car won't start.

- Dallas, TX, USA

Eis steering failure, car unable to start! this happened less that a month after bringing my car in for expensive dealership service and everything checked out! buyer beware!

- Houston, TX, USA

Car would not start morning of 8/8. aaa was called. Tow truck driver determined it was not the battery and towed the car to mb service. Mercedes diagnosed the following issues with my 2008 C300 with 55K miles: Replace electrical ignition switch, $561 for the part. Replace electronic steering lock, $384 for the part. Reprogram both keys, $595. Labor for all of the above, tbd, as my car is still with Mercedes as I file this complaint with NHTSA on 8/15. These are obviously major and ongoing issues experienced by many C300 owners, and Mercedes is very well aware of the problem. They have simply found a great way to extort money from their customers, rather than doing the right thing and recalling these faulty parts before someone really gets hurt.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

Many people have complained about the same issue in many forums. I wonder if someone has to be injured or killed (if not already) before something is done. The car arbitrarily and without notice dies and will not restart. It leaves the driver completely vulnerable, wherever it occurs. This is what happened in my situation. Nothing worked, I had to call, to be told that this is a battery issue. It was not, as determined by the tow truck company and the dealership, after the car was towed to them. Is this ever going to be investigated and recalled before further damage and/or injury occurs ?

- Plantation, FL, USA

Car would not start or shift gears. Battery was found to be fully charged. Gears and steering completely locked out. No dash board lighting. Mercedes Benz dispatched but could not jump start. Towing only after forcing cover off gear shifter and overriding gears to put vehicle in neutral. 69K miles.

- Glen Allen, VA, USA

Car would not start. Drove vehicle to work and worked perfectly but later that morning when I tried to turn on the vehicle nothing would happen when I attempted to turn it on. The lights and locks worked. Road side assistance attempted to jump vehicle but was told battery was not the issue. Had vehicle towed to dealership. Was told steering lock needs to be replaced. Seems this is a typical problem for this model year.

- Dallas, TX, USA

Parked car at a gas station for 5 mins. Returned and car would not start. Dash states remove key from ignition. Dealer states eis failure. Very common in these cars. This should be recalled!! Mercedes Benz should be accountable for this failure. Very dangerous and could happen anywhere at anytime.

- Dix Hills, NY, USA

I went to start my car after just using it and it did not start. The lights worked, radio worked, everything but the car would not start. The car wouldn't even turn over as if it was attempting to turn on. I removed the battery and got it checked. Auto zone stated the battery was at 79% but this should not keep the car from running. I got my car towed to the Mercedes Benz dealership in georgetown tx. I was advised after the diagnostic was ran that the problem was the "steering lock assembly" needed to be replaced. With parts and labor I was quoted about $1,067.

- Temple, TX, USA